Ryanair says bounces back into quarterly profit

DUBLIN, Jan 30 – Irish no-frills airline Ryanair said Monday that it bounced into profit in the last three months of 2011, as the group was boosted by rising fares and better weather conditions than the previous year.

Net profit hit 14.9 million euros ($19.6 million) in the third quarter of the company’s financial year, or three months to the end of December, the carrier said in a results statement.

That compared with a net loss of 10.3 million euros in the same period of the previous year, when there were widespread flight cancellations due to snow and freezing weather.

Ryanair added that revenues increased by 13 percent to 844 million euros in the reporting period, despite a two-percent dip in passenger traffic. Average fares jumped by 17 percent, while fuel costs leapt 18 percent.

“Our third-quarter net profit was slightly ahead of guidance due to a combination of benign weather which caused fewer flight cancellations and significant de-icing savings, and a better performance on yields reflecting our planned winter capacity cuts, longer sectors, and higher competitor fares/fuel surcharges,” the company said in a statement.

It added: “Should these positive third-quarter trends continue into the fourth quarter, we now expect our full year profit will exceed previous guidance of 440 million euros and rise to 480 million euros.”